Ana Botin, Santander’ executive chairman, states that from the launch UK users will be able to use One Pay for transferring finances all across Europe and to US.

On Thursday, 12 April, a Spain-based international bank Santander affirmed the launch of blockchain payment network based on Ripple developments. By doing so, the company becomes the first bank with blockchain payment system in the world.

Updated One Pay FX system will use Ripple-powered blockchain technology to reduce the cost and time of waiting during the international money transfer and initially will be available for Santander users in Spain, Brazil, Poland and UK, according to company.

Ana Botin, Santander’ executive chairman, states that from the launch UK users will be able to use One Pay for transferring finances all across Europe and to US. Spanish customers can send money to UK and US after the launch, and users in Brazil and Poland may transfer to UK. She also adds: “Transfers to Europe can be made on the same day and we are aiming to deliver instant transfers across several markets by the summer.”

Santander has been developing new system together with Ripple for several years. The early prototypes prompted that the best solution would be blockchain, which allows to significantly improve money transfer system over the traditional techniques.

In 2016 the UK department of the bank has already applied blockchain-based mobile money transfer system for staff.

In such way, Santander will provide the first world ready-to-use payment platform supported by blockchain system. Such moves indicate that the company aims to beat its rivals in the competition, though other alike companies have similar plans - for example, in Japan and South Korea.